Simplification in translated Czech: a new approach to type-token ratio

Abstract

The main objective of the paper is to examine whether simplification can be demonstrated to exist in Czech translated texts. In general, simplification as one of the so-called translation universals, is defined as a translators’ tendency to create simpler texts. According to research of English texts, simplification may be manifested e.g. by a lower level of lexical richness. To describe lexical richness, a simple type-token ratio (TTR) is widely used; however, it is very sensitive to text size. To overcome this disadvantage, a standardized type-token ratio (sTTR) has been introduced, which is calculated for every 1000 words in the text. Nevertheless, it also has certain drawbacks. Our method for standardizing type-token ratio (zTTR) is based on comparing the observed TTR with the referential TTR values representing texts of identical size. Inspired by the z-score, this metric is capable of comparing the lexical richness of texts regardless of their length. The analysis carried out on a large comparable corpus of translated and non-translated Czech proved that the non-translated texts tend be lexically richer, although the difference is not as striking as some studies have predicted.